When a young tug pilot's career is ruined by a collision in Earth orbit he has no choice but to accept a commission to fly an eccentric ship builder to planet far from the trade routes. When they discover alien ruins on the planet and the hulk of a missing generation ship they are thrown into the centre of a conspiracy that reaches back centuries. Meanwhile on Earth a young Indian police officer is trying to track down a serial killer little suspecting that the killer is linked to what is happening on a planet light years away and that her own past holds the key to everything that is happening. Eric Brown has written a novel that brings together an extraordinary imagination, rare sensitivity to character and a love of Eastern philosphy. A key novel from one of the UK's favourite SF writers.

"This is a very skilfully plotted novel about which it is best not to give too much away... This is the book for readers who really don't want to know where a writer might be taking them... The more meditative aspects of Penumbra bring to mind the calm of Arthur C Clarke's work, while those who appreciate the involved mystery will find much to enjoy in Kim Stanley Robinson's Icehenge." – Gary S Dalkin